Gatlin International

We share a lot of articles here on the topic of eLearning.  Usually our information is centered on distance learning as it relates to adult education and employee training, college and university level studies, or secondary level coursework and teaching.  Today we are going to discuss eLearning as it applies to younger learners.  A recent study conducted by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) on the subject of the use of technology in early childhood education contained interesting findings.  Becta is a now defunct organization that was funded by the Department for Children, Schools, and Families in the United Kingdom.  The role of Becta was to support and share best practices as they related to information and communications technology in the United Kingdom’s educational system.  Unfortunately, funding constraints led to the abolishment of Becta.

In a report entitled A review of the evidence on the use of ICT in the Early Years Foundation Stage, Becta commissioned the early childhood research unit of the University of Warwick to review the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in early childhood education settings.  This report set out to address six key questions: 1.  What technologies, hardware and software are available specifically for the Early Years Market?  2. What is the current landscape of the use of ICT more generally in the Early Years, both at home and in educational settings?  3. What is the skill-set and expertise of Early Years practitioners and how does this vary across different sectors?  4.  How can technology contribute towards a child’s learning and development, with specific reference to the EYFS themes and principles?  5.  What are the health-and-safety issues and other risks associated with technology used by young children? 6.  What advice do parents and caregivers need on technology and what sources of advice are currently available?

In answering these questions, some interesting findings were uncovered.  Obviously children growing up today have a greater deal of exposure to technology in general than did their counterparts even just a decade ago.  This study found that parents and care givers in the study’s focus group welcomed ICT education and felt like it would be beneficial to include this type of instruction beginning in the early years.  This report also found that of the participating practitioners, most of them felt open and comfortable with the use of ICT in the early childhood curriculum.  These participants also welcomed more professional development in ICT to promote its use in the early years settings.

The researchers in this study suggest that the full potential of integrating ICT components into an early childhood curriculum will be most beneficial when mediated by an appropriately trained adult.  Researchers also suggested that the amount of funding for ICT in the early childhood environment would need to increase considerably over the next ten years in order for benefits to be realized.  They also suggested that those involved in early childhood education would appreciate advice on what type of ICT hardware and software to invest in should funding become available.  If you would like more details or to read the full version of this report, you may find it at the following link:  http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/1631/2/becta_2008_eyfsreview_report.pdf.

Last week we shared an article regarding cheating and how online educators may deal with this form of academic dishonesty.  Today we are continuing our topic of academic dishonesty in eLearning environments with a discussion centered on plagiarism. Plagiarism can be defined as when a student intentionally presents the written work of someone else as his or her own work.  Plagiarism is usually associated with long written assignments such as essays, research papers, or even masters theses and doctoral dissertations.  However, plagiarism can certainly occur in any assignment that requires a written response.

The first step in curbing any form of academic dishonesty is prevention.  While plagiarism may be more difficult than other forms of academic dishonesty to prevent, sometimes simply discussing what plagiarism is and how to avoid it can quell a student’s temptation.  As we stated in our previous article on the subject of cheating, another form of prevention is making the policies around academic dishonesty known to all students at the beginning of your course.  Each student should have access to your personal academic dishonesty policies and those of the organization you work for.

Plagiarism can also be somewhat difficult to detect.  There are many plagiarism detection resources from free online services to paid subscription or software.  If the organization you work with utilizes a plagiarism detection service, you would be wise to make use of it.  If not, a simple Internet search for free plagiarism detection services will return several options and you should be able to find a solution that works for your needs.

There are also certain “red flags” you can look for in a student’s writing that may be an indication of plagiarism.  Sudden font or text size changes in a work of writing may indicate copying and pasting from another source as many students are not savvy enough to ensure the text size or font they have copied matches the text in their original work.  Another tip-off that a student may have plagiarized a portion of a written assignment is the use of atypical spelling of certain words (for example, the use of “-our”  in words like behaviour or colour if you are in a region that used the “-or” spelling instead).  Some students have also been known to leave various header or footer information (advertising or other indications of original source) in items that they have cut and pasted from an Internet source.  This is an obvious red flag that should be investigated.  Another way to detect a possible act of plagiarism is if you sense a student’s voice or tone has changed abruptly in his or her writing.  Again, this could indicate that text has been copied from another source.

If you do find that you have detected an act of plagiarism by one of your students, you should document all of your research and evidence thoroughly.  Most organizations have a protocol that should be followed for handling such cases so you will need to familiarize yourself with the procedures that apply to your situation.  Ideally, preventative measures and education on the subject will make the occasions you have to deal with plagiarism rare.